Typically, floating screed pavers comprise a self-propelled paving vehicle having a hopper at its forward end for receiving paving material from a dump truck pushed forwardly along the roadbed by the paver so that the truck progressively dumps its load of paving material into the hopper. A conveyor system on the paver transfers the paving material from the hpper rearwardly for discharge onto the roadbed in front of transversely arranged screw augers which spread the material laterally in front of a main screed. This screed is commonly operated as a so-called "floating screed" by being connected to the paving vehicle by pivoted tow arms, and functions to compress and level the paving material distributed by the augers to give a smooth finished road surface. The height of the tow points at each side of the paver and the attack angle of the screed may be varied to control the depth and surface of the paving mat.
For many paving activities, there is a need to widen the effective width of the screed, and this has been accomplished by providing the main screed with one or two adjustable extensions, as disclosed and discussed, for example, in Brown, U.S. Pat. No. 4,379,653, or providing a self-contoured screed extender as previously manufactured by Carlson Paving Products, Inc. Tacoma, Wash. ("the prior Carlson screed extender").